New Job
by Ethiercn
Summary: Takes place after "Revenge". Justice and Firestar adjust to thier new jobs.
1. Chapter 1

Title: New Job

Author: Ethiercn

Rating: MA

Disclaimer: I don't own them, and I am making no profit.

Note: This story ties in with Fallout and Revenge, which can be found in the files section for this group. This story takes place some time after the Revenge epilogue. The bit about Firestar and the bomb was used in _The Avengers_. The story of "Blubber Boy" is a retelling of the story as it appears in _The Old Wives Fairy Tale Book_ ed. by Angela Carter. Charlotte Smith is Archangel's ex-girlfriend, Charlotte Jones. Scott and Conrad were guardsmen from _New Warriors_.

Standing at the closed bathroom door, Pumpkin cocked his head and listened. He heard giggling. Perhaps the cat god Bast would smile on him, and he could have a second breakfast. He could hear voices over the sound of running water.

"You need a bigger shower."

"We could've tried this at your place," his owner replied.

"With Rich outside with a stop-watch? Hold on, I've got an idea."

There was a pause, followed by a low moan. "I'm sure Rich would be taking notes."

The man chuckled, "Being a telekinetic has certain advantages."

Conversation stopped. Pumpkin waited. Eventually, the moans stopped, and the sounds of movement changed. A phone rang.

"That's mine," the door to the bathroom opened, and the man who could throw all the cat toys at once, so fun, rushed out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. As the water shut off in the shower, Vance grabbed the phone. "Hello?" He listened, and his whole body language changed. "Okay. I'll be right there." He closed the phone and rushed around the apartment getting dressed.

"They need you?" Angel asked, as she came out of the bathroom wrapped in a robe and toweling her hair dry.

Vance nodded as he finished getting changed in his uniform. "They'll brief me at the mansion." He looked around for his belt.

"Here," Angel said, holding out the belt. She reached out with her hand and used her power to quickly dry Vance's brown hair. "It wouldn't do to catch a cold."

With a smile, he took the belt from her and put it on. "Thanks. I'll call when I can." He kissed her quickly on the mouth. "I love you," he finished as he took off though the window.

"Love you too," Angel called out quickly, hoping he heard. She dried her own hair and then picked up Pumpkin. She scratched behind his ears, "I hope he'll be okay. He's so nervous," she told the cat. Pumpkin patted at her cheek, "You already had breakfast," she replied. "And you're not a hobbit." She looked at the clock. She had to meet her own team in a little while.

"So I can talk all I want?" Mac asked.

"Yes," Charlotte Smith replied, and Firestar could just see the small sigh she heard though the gear. "As long as you do so softly."

"And I can say whatever I want, and you guys can't interrupt me?" Mac continued, and Firestar could hear the amusement in the other woman's voice. Dressed in her new uniform, a variation of the body armor the X-Men used, she scanned the abandoned warehouse the team was using for the exercise. Where would Lt. Smith be hiding Mac, she wondered.

"I see a drawback to this exercise," Conrad mumbled.

"You would be correct, Mac. Just keep the channel open, and as Firestar tries to track the signal, the rest of us will try to stop her," Charlotte Jones Smith finished. "Scott and Conrad are suited up."

"Iron Man wannabes," Mac quipped.

"Go," Lt. Smith said.

Firestar didn't flick on her power. Instead, she closed her eyes for a second, blocking out the warehouse with its maze like arrangement of boxes. She opened them, trying to look for the signal that Mac's phone put out. A couple weeks ago, during a mission, she had been able to see the signal coming off of a bomb. Since then, they had been experimenting to see if they could track people using the signal put out by the phone, like how Mac could track people simply by the sounds that they made. Lt. Smith, used to working with mutants, believed this was how Stephen had tracked her after he had escaped from the Vault.

"So how many of you know the story of Blubber Boy?" Mac asked over the gear.

Good try, Firestar thought, but there was no way she was going to give away her own position.

"It's an Eskimo tale," Mac continued.

There, Firestar thought, she could see something in the air. She hoped it was Mac's signal and not some fake. She moved slowly in its direction. They would be except her to fly. Let's see what happened when she walked. She had lost to Smith a couple days ago, so she wanted to win this one.

"There was this girl, young woman, who was engaged to a handsome young man. Sadly, one day her fiancée went off to hunt for whale and died," Mac continued as Firestar made her way slowly though the pathways formed by the boxes. The hardest part was not getting distracted by Mac's story.

Out of the corner of her eye, Firestar saw movement. She knew it couldn't be Mac, for the signal waves weren't strong enough. She reached the conclusion quickly, and she flicked on her power and fried off a blast in the direction of the movement. Scott let out a muffled curse as her microwaves fired the circuits of his suit. After making sure she had taken him out, Firestar continued tracking the signal.

"The young woman mourned," Mac went on; her tone amused for she had heard Scott. "But then she took a piece of whale blubber and craved a likeness of her fiancée. In short, she made a doll. And then, for some reason known only to herself, for it was quite sick, she took the blubber doll and rubbed it on her . . .hmm .. . womanly parts, if you know what I mean."

That, Angel had to agree, was sick and unhygienic.

"And the fatty doll came to life. In all the ways that mattered, if you know what I mean."

There was a slight sound, and Firestar turned to see a fast approaching Conrad. She flashed him as she rose into the air. Conrad moved quickly out of the way of her pulse. She closed in on him, getting in as close as she could, something that she normally didn't do. He tried to use the electric shock defense of his suit. The trick didn't work for she used her own power to counter it. The result was sparkling lights. She reached out and grabbed his right wrist, and then flipped him, like he had taught her. He chuckled as he landed on a box, but kept a hold of her wrist and pulled her in his direction. He, however, had opened himself to the attack of her microwaves, and her pulse took him out. "Good one, kiddo," he approved.

"And so the girl and the blubber boy loved and lived as husband and wife until he melted because apparently blubber melts when it gets too hot," Mac continued. "The young girl mourned again, but was undaunted."

With Conrad down, that only left Smith, Firestar thought, the hard one. The waves got brighter and that meant that she was closer. Smith would do something soon. Firestar kept her power on, high enough that it would form a heat shield against anything.

"So the girl craved another doll out whale blubber," Mac said.

A box came crashing down from above. Firestar moved out of the way quickly. She looked up. Smith knelt atop a pile of boxes, gun at the ready. Firestar cocked an eyebrow, "I could melt the gun, but you mention something about funding refusing to replace any more weapons lost in training the other day, ma'am."

Smith smiled, "True, and you could've flashed me as well. You've got me. I should've known it won't have worked twice."

"She rubbed the new doll like she had the first one, and poof! Another husband. Eventually that one melt, and away she went again," from her hidey hole, Mac looked up at Firestar and waved. "Well done. Nice to see another fast learner."

Angel changed in the locker room. She had already fed Pumpkin, so she just had to meet Vance at the theatre. If he could still make it, that is. She ran her fingers over the picture of Vance on her locker door. The Avengers had made the news, so it looked like the situation was over, but Vance hadn't called her yet. She sighed. She hadn't thought she would worry so much. It felt strange being on two different teams; it had been a kick to see him on television though. She pulled on her shirt as her phone rang.

"Hey," she said. "You okay?"

"Fine," Vance replied. He sounded tense, Angel thought. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have canceled on tonight."

"Oh," Angel replied closing the door to her locker. "Okay. You sure that you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Ang," he sighed. "I just want to go over a few training tapes and mission records. Study up some. The other Avengers fought this Morgan le Fey before; I need to know things like that, which means I need to study more. I'll make it up to you. Take Mac or Scott."

"Sure, Vance; it's not a problem," Angel knew how important this was to him. She wanted to nothing but supportive. "Do you want me to leave dinner out or something?"

"No, hon. I don't know how long I'll be. If it's late I'll sleep here or head back to my place. I'll talk to you later. Love you," he finished before hanging up.

Conrad sat next to Scott at the table in the conference room. The four of them, himself, Mac, Scott, and Angelica, would usually meet here just before they left for the night. Team bonding, Scott called it, for it didn't seem right to go to a bar when one of your team was still too young to legally drink. Stupid age limit, Conrad thought as Mac and Angel came into the room. He had to admit, the team's newest member was very good. She had been shy around them for awhile and slightly embarrassed because she had flashed him when trying to stop Vance from going to the Vault. She learned quickly, however, and she did have a sense of humor and a willingness to learn. She worked hard and made a good teammate. Today when she had won the training exercise, there had been none of that smugness that annoyed him so much about Justice. What she was doing with a self righteous twerp such as Vance Astrovik, he had no idea.

"Does anyone want to go see _The Producers_?" Angel asked as she opened a bottle of juice. "I've a spare ticket."

Mac shook her dark haired head, "Normally, I would jump at the chance, but I've got plans."

"Justice still busy with the Avengers?" Scott asked, and Conrad groaned internally. He never understood what Scott saw in that kid.

Angel nodded, "It's too late to switch the tickets."

"I'll go," Conrad said before Scott could say anything. Surprised both Angel and Scott looked at him. "What? Who doesn't like Mel Brooks and "Hitler in Springtime"?" Especially when escorting someone who literally embodied flaming hot, he added mentally. He rose from his chair. "I'll even pay for dinner before the show. Indian okay with you, Red?"

Angel nodded.

Scott narrowed his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: New Job Part 2

Author: Ethiercn

Disclaimer: Marvel owns them, and I am making no profit.

Rating: MA

Note: The letter Angel mentions was sent at the end of my fanfic "Revenge".

"Thank you for coming," Angel said to Conrad as they left the theater and walked down the street.

Enjoying himself, Conrad smiled, "You were the one with a spare ticket." They turned a corner. "You can get home okay?" Angel's blue green eyes looked at him in surprise, and then the two of them dissolved into laughter. "Okay, it was a stupid question," he admitted.

"But do you need a lift?" she asked, looking at him. Dour and surly, Vance had described him. Because of that description, she had been nervous working with him. But, while Conrad was more closed off than Scott and Mac, he patiently tutored her in self-dense, never once making her feel stupid, treated her as an equal, and joked with her. In some ways, it felt like she had Randall back.

"Being a mutant has advantages, doesn't it?" he asked as they turned a corner.

"You never have to take public transit unless you want to."

"As long as it isn't out of your way," he said. Stupid Astrovik, he thought, standing up his girl like that; someone else could step into those empty shoes eventually.  
"It's not," Angel replied.

The following day, Angel slid her books into her bag and left the classroom. She had an hour before her next class. She should get something to eat.

"Angel!"

She looked up and saw Vance coming down the hallway. He must have found time to go home and change, and she hoped he found some time to rest. Her eyes brightened with joy, and before she knew it, his warm lips were on hers.

"I know you have some time between classes, and since I need a break, I thought we could get some lunch," he said, taking her bag and sliding his free arm around her waist. They walked out of the building and to one of the food trucks that dotted the campus.

"Did you get caught up?" Angel asked after they had gotten some sandwiches and found a quiet place to sit.

Vance unwrapped his burger. "Not yet. There's so much history, Ang! I'm going to be busy for days. After lunch, it's back to the grindstone." He looked at her, his blue eyes intent. "It's like I'm so stupid compare to . .. "

"They wouldn't have asked you to join if they didn't want you," Angel interrupted and studied him. Despite the clean shirt and jeans, he looked tense and worried. Perhaps, he hadn't slept but worked all night. "You probably know more about their history than they do."

Vance swallowed a bite. "I know. And you're right. But it's like being thrust into a new school, and I don't want to make a mistake. I'm struggling to catch-up."

"I know what that feels like, Angel murmured. "But the news said you were an excellent addition to the team," she quoted, adding. "WABC says you were cool under pressure."

He smiled brightly and relaxed a little. "Really?" his face took on that kid in a candy store look he had when he had accepted the Avenger's offer. "How was _The Producers_? Did Mac or Scott go?"

"It was wonderful. Conrad came, actually."

"Conrad," Vance picked up an onion ring. "That sourpuss?"

"He's not that bad," Angel countered. "He's been rather nice."

"Did he laugh?" Vance asked. His relationship with Conrad hadn't been. For some reason, Conrad didn't approve of him or of the practices that Vance had with the guardsmen.

Angel nodded. "He's quite the Mel Brooks fan. He can quote huge sections of _Blazing Saddles_, _Young Frankenstein_, and _Spaceballs_, though not _Robin Hood: Men in Tights_. He says that one was sub-par. He even has a cat," She finished her B. L. T. "He said something at dinner . . . "

"At dinner?" Vance put down his soda. Conrad, chummy, he thought, and how did Angel know about the cat?

"He paid for dinner before the show as a thank you," Angel explained. "He said that we would mostly likely be working with my mother at some point, so I decided to read the letter she sent." She looked at the students walking across campus and shook away the memory of what Stephan had done to Empath and James.

"Did you tell Conrad?" Vance asked watching her.

Angel looked at him in confusion, "No. Why would I?"

"No reason. Just . . ." he shrugged it off. "What did she say?"

"That she wasn't sure exactly why she brought my painting. That I shouldn't believe everything Stephan says about her. That she would like us to have a relationship." She sighed. Vance reached and took her hand, stroking her palm with his thumb. "I don't want a repeat of Frost," she finished softly.

"I don't think she's like Frost, Vance replied. "I think it's fear, which is, I will admit, a worry. But she's not Frost."

She squeezed his hand, "So what is Iron Man like?"

A little later, hand in hand, they walked back to Vance's bike. "I don't know when I'll have more free time," Vance said as he leaned against his bike and took Angel into his arms.

She rested her hands against his chest, "I know. It's okay. I've got a job too, remember?"  
"It's just until I get caught up," he promised.

"It's fine, Vance. I know how much this means to you. Don't worry. You're doing fine." She kissed him.

He kissed her back as his hands moved down her back and pulled her closer. Angel thought briefly about this new almost electric pulse between them, a tingle, a something that the slightest touch could spark. Something totally different from the feeling she had when they first started dating. Was this tingling feeling and awareness arousal, lust, or something different, she wondered as she felt both their hearts beat.

"I could always quiz you," she whispered, her hands had moved down his chest.

"I have idea, every time I get an answer correct, you remove a piece of clothing," his response came out in a rough whisper.

She blushed and rested her head against his shoulder, "I can't believe you said that."

One of his hands stroked her cheek and then played gently with her hair, "You know, neither can I. Rich must be rubbing off on me." He rest his head hers and sighed. "I have to go," his voice was a strange mixture of desire and regret. Despite his word, his hands tightened on her.

Whatever this feeling was, it was nice to know he felt it too. Angel took his hand and pressed a kiss into his palm. "Go," she kissed him on his cheek. "I'll quiz you later." she promised.

"I'll call," he said as he got on his bike. He pulled on his helmet, and with a wave, left.

Two hours later, as she was leaving her last class, Conrad called. "Red," he said. "Smith's calling us in," he paused. "And we're working with your mother."


	3. Chapter 3

Title: New Job Part 3

Author: Ethiercn

Disclaimer: Recognizable characters belong to Marvel. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: MA

Note: Takes place three days after part 2.

"Whenever you are ready, Firestar," Smith said into over the gear. Samantha Jones had arrived with leads to two missing prisoners from the Vault. They had spent the last three days checking down the leads, which had eventually led them here, Ian Melville's safe house. Scott, Mac and her mother were tracking down the second man. Hopefully, once caught the men would cough up information on Stephen and a few other prisoners from the Vault. Considering what Melville had been sent for the Vault for, the sooner they caught him the better, Firestar thought as she moved off the sidewalk, crossed the street quickly, and blasted the door.

Conrad quickly flew into the opening, heading straight for Melville. Melville slammed a punch into the guardsmen faceplate. "Stupid! Do you really think you can take me?" he shouted as he swung onto Conrad's back, trying to drive the guardsmen into a wall. Conrad cursed; he hated super-power beings with super-strength, absolutely hated them. He twisted in Melville's grasp and tried to shock the man with the electronic pulse built into his suit.

It didn't work quite as he hoped.

Melville let go and tried to run, but his way out was blocked by Firestar's blast. The huge man snarled in disgust but backed into the room. "Give it up," Conrad said as he launched himself at the predator at the same time Melville moved to throw himself though a wall. They crashed into the wall of the house. Melville's strength carried them though the wall and onto the ground. Conrad backed off quickly as another microwave blast hit Melville, stunning him, knocking him to the ground, and finally allowing Conrad to slide a restraining collar around the beef like neck. Smith came up, "Check the rest of the house," she ordered.

The first floor was clear. It was on the second floor that they found the boy.

They found the dead boy.

Angelica sat in the meeting room back at headquarters, curled up in a chair, and trying to get enough energy to take the shower she desperately wanted. She knew that she would see unpleasantness working for Smith, for she had seen it with the Warriors after all; she just hadn't expected to see it in such a manner. She rubbed her arms. She should check her messages before taking that shower. She pulled out her phone. Her shoulders slumped. Despite his promise of three days ago, Vance still hadn't called. She sighed. She really wanted to hear his voice right now, but she didn't want to interrupt him. It could be that the Avengers had something going that would explain why he hadn't called.

"Angelica, do you have a minute?" her mother said at the door to conference room.

Angel put the phone on the table and looked up. She couldn't keep avoiding the woman. She nodded.

Feeling suddenly nervous, Samantha Jones studied her daughter. She had written weeks ago, and Angel had yet to respond. Now, after seeing her daughter again and working along side her, she wanted to say everything she had said in the letter and to explain, once again, that things didn't always work out the right way. To explain that once, when she was new to her job, she had made a terrible mistake that haunted her still, and the price of which she was still paying. She wanted to explain that sometimes fear of the price overwhelmed everything else.

To say that in her deepest moments of depression, she felt that she deserved Stephen's hatred and disgust.

Samantha settled for, however, the more generic and very motherly, "I heard what happened. Are you okay?"

She saw her daughter soften just a little. "I'm okay," Angelica replied. "Did you know?"

"That he had another victim? No. If we had, we wouldn't have bothered to call Smith." She didn't want her daughter to think that of all things, and Samantha repressed a sigh. Her actions after Stephen's escape had led to this, and she needed to fix it, both with Angel and with Bart. "Can we talk after this over?"

Angelica studied her mother. She believed that her mother hadn't known about the boy, and it seemed only fair to get her side of the story. She needed, Angel, thought to herself, to face this fear of every older woman being like Frost. She nodded.

"Okay then," Samantha said with a slight smile as she pulled out her Blackberry. "You should get some rest and something to eat. Melville and Joyce are going to talk eventually, and then we'll all be on call. They'll try to make a deal."

"You're not going to give Melville one?" Angel asked. If Samantha was, the question of bonding was out.

"After what he did? No, not even I want Stephen that badly, but Melville doesn't need to know that. Get some food and get some rest. Lt. Smith would tell you the same." With that Samantha left as Conrad came into the room.

Conrad studied his partner. He had been police once, still was; he knew what the first dead body, the first dead child in particular felt like. Top that off with dealing with your mother. Couldn't have been easy and she hadn't so much as pouted. "You okay, Red?"

She nodded," I just need a shower."

"Seeing Justice tonight?"

She shook her head.

He thought so. Justice was Mr. High Mighty like all the other Avengers who never had to tell parents that their son was not coming home, which was why he liked Smith. She took that responsibly on for the whole team and then went home to spend time with her children. Not like those super-heroes who never cleaned up their messes. "Let's go and get something to eat. Decompress before you try to get some rest. Trust me, it'll help."

"I'm not really hungry," she replied.

"You are; your body knows it. At the very least, you'll keep me company."

She studied him for a moment, and then nodded. "Let me grab a shower first."

"I'll be here," he replied taking a seat as she left for the showers.

He was studying the sports section of the paper when the cell phone on the conference table rang. He picked it up without thinking. "Hello?"

"Angel?" a confused Justice asked.

Conrad smirked, "She's in the shower. It's Conrad"

"What?!" Justice said loud enough for Conrad to move the phone away from his ear.

"Chill kid. We're at work. It was a long day. She's just taking a quick shower before dinner." He could just see Justice frowning. He smiled. "If you want, I could go get her."

"No!"

"So I shouldn't tell her you called then?"

"Conrad, shut-up," Justice said, and his voice dripped venom. "Is she going to be long?"

Conrad didn't say anything.

"Conrad!" Justice demanded after moment.

"You told me to shut-up, boy. Going to tell her the Avengers are more important again?" He looked up and saw Angel and Scott enter the room. "Here she is now." He handed the phone off to Angel who shot him a confused look as she took it. "What?" he said to a disapproving Scott as Angel moved off a little to talk to Justice.

"Lay off," Scott said. "I know you don't like him but don't use her to get back at him."

"Who? Angel? I wouldn't hurt Angel unlike some. I picked it up by accident, and I didn't say anything but the truth," Conrad replied softly.

"Just cool it," Scott countered.

"I promise that I won't hurt her. We're just friends. Partners," Conrad replied, not adding he wouldn't mind being something more. "She's a good teammate."

Justice studied the tape one last time. It was very late, and he needed rest, but despite the fact that he had watched the tape several times over the last few days, he felt he was missing something. One last time, he thought to himself.

He frowned as he, once again, recalled his brief conversation with Conrad the shit. He could still hear the guardsman's surly, "Going to tell her the Avengers are more important again". The man must be jealous, super hero envy, Justice thought as he looked at the clock. It was too late to call Angel again, but maybe he could stop by her apartment, sleep there instead of here at the Avengers mansion, just to make sure everything was okay. He thought briefly over Dr. Pym's comments of a few hours ago, "Down time it there for a reason. Use it".

Wearing Vance's "Mole Day" shirt and lying in bed, Angel stared at the television. PBS had gone over to educational, college programming about American history. She wasn't paying attention, but she needed the noise to keep the image of that boy at bay. Talking to Conrad at dinner had helped, but despite the warm presence of Pumpkin curled up next to her, the images had returned. She wanted to be held. She wanted Vance. She frowned; spending so much time studying without rest couldn't be very good for him.

A key turned in the lock. Instantly alert, she sat up.

Vance walked though the door.

She relaxed.

"I didn't want to wake you," he said as he closed and locked the door behind him.

"You didn't," she replied, resting her arms on her knees as she watched him take off his shirt. "I thought you were going to sleep at the Avengers'."

"You sounded like you needed me here," he removed his jeans and slid into the bed. "I was wondering where that shirt had gone."

She lay against him, finding the hollows of his body were her body fit. "You left it here a couple days ago."

"Is this the American history series?" he asked, his arms cradling her. He felt her nod, and her hands entwining with his. It had been a long day at work then, he thought, trying to ignore the feeling of relief that had surfaced when he had discovered her alone and the feeling of guilt that had instantly followed. He closed his eyes, seeking sleep to calm his thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: New Job Part 4/4

Author: Ethiercn

Disclaimer: Marvel owns them; I'm just borrowing them. I am making no profit.

Rating: MA

Note: Takes place the morning after part 3

The next morning, Angelica made coffee. Her gaze slid briefly over to Vance as he put bread in the toaster. While she had enjoyed the early morning wake-up call, there had been something different about his love making. It felt like he had been marking her as his in way that he hadn't done before. There wasn't a place on her that he hadn't touched, and she wondered if something had happened either with the Avengers or when Conrad had mistakenly picked up her phone.

Vance came up behind her, his lips nibbling at her neck as he pulled her closer.

"More studying today?" she asked as she leaned into him.

"Sadly, yes. You're going in after breakfast?"

"It beats waiting here for Smith to call," she replied and then bit her lip in indecision. She wanted to ask about this morning, but she was unsure how to raise the question or even what the question should be. Maybe, she thought, it had simply been her reaction to what she had seen yesterday. She turned in his arms and kissed him lightly on the jaw. He smiled and moved his lips to hers. The click of the toaster broke them apart, and she poured the coffee while he got the toast.

"How's Conrad as a partner?" Vance asked as he buttered the hot toast.

She put the mug of coffee in front of him as she sat down, "He's good. He's patient and doesn't mind explaining things. His advice about how to cope helped yesterday. Why are you asking?"

"I want to make sure he has your back," Vance took a bite of toast; "Conrad just never seemed to be . . . I don't think he liked the fact that Scott allowed me to practice with the guardsmen. Perhaps he doesn't like super-heroes. I worried that he would act that way with you."

"He's not like that with me," Angel replied and whatever she was about to say next was cut short by both their phones going off.

"Smith?" Vance asked as he closed his phone.

"The Avengers?" Angel countered.

Scott slid the door to the helicopter open and gestured to Conrad. With Firestar clinging to his back, Conrad flew out of the helicopter and hovered high above the abandoned resort in the Adirondacks where Stephen was supposedly hiding out. Firestar's power, Smith reasoned, might give them away, better, therefore to keep it off until the last possible moment. And let Firestar see if she could use the microwaves to find Stephen.

"Is he there?" Smith asked over the gear, her voice calm and relaxed as if this was just going to be a walk in the park.

"I think so," Firestar replied unsurely. "I can see the waves going to something. It's weird," she added without thinking, drawing an amused snort from Conrad. "It's the east wing of the main building. One of the rooms on the top floor, towards the rear, I think."

Smith asked quickly, "Did you get that Samantha?"

"Yes, Charlotte. We'll attack from the east, if you and your people can get the west. Hopefully that will get Stephen out, and Firestar and Conrad can deal with him," Samantha's voice contained an undercurrent of intensity.

The attack started quietly. A true Siren, Mac used her power to lull the guards. Only then did the attack begin in earnest. Scott dealing quite easily with a few more guards before they realized what was going on.

"It's a shame that Mac couldn't sing everyone on the complex to sleep," Conrad said, his eyes never leaving the main building.

"Too many people, even mutants have limits," Firestar replied. "Maybe I was wrong about where he was."

"It's okay, kiddo. Smith knows that you haven't got the whole seeing microwaves thing down to an exact science yet."

A flash of light and Stephen powered out of a window. Firestar and Conrad flew quickly down. Firestar's first blast disrupted the beam that Stephen had aimed at Scott. Stephen looked up and with a smile turned to face his niece. "Your tricks won't work this time," he called out as Firestar dove under his first attack. He dodged her return fire. Firestar tried using her blasts to hem him in and distract him enough for Conrad to take him out. Stephen, however, countered her blasts easily.

Then he caught sight of Samantha and everything changed.

Stephen let out a quick flash of light, temporally blinding the guardsman who had been hanging back waiting for an opening. He directed a powerful blast at his niece. He ordered some of his men over to distract his opponents before he moved to confront his sister.

Firestar saw Stephen's blast and knew there was not enough time to dodge most of it. She blasted at it with her own power and absorbed the residue, much in the same way she had siphoned off Stephen's power when she had first encountered him a few months ago. She turned to deal with Stephen's men.

"I've got these," Conrad said over the gear, their bullets bouncing off his armor as he flew into them. "Find Stephen."

Stephen's power melted the gun of Samantha's guard, and with a smile, he turned to his sister. Finally, after so many long years, he would be able to have his revenge. His green eyes meet the steely blue of Samantha, and he smiled. Calmly, Samantha Jones raised her gun and fired. Still in the air, Stephen easily used his own power to melt first the bullet. His power melted the gun, burning Samantha's hands in the process.

Her eyes never leaving her brother as he hovered above her, Samantha felt the air around her start to heat up. She felt her skin began grow uncomfortably warm. She felt her lungs begin to protest as they drew in the too hot air. It would be a slow death, she thought. For some reason, she had always believed her brother would be merciful. Just another thing she had been wrong about, Samantha thought as she slid to her knees and succumbed to the heat.

Firestar saw Stephen confront her mother. She could feel the power in the air. She blasted her uncle in the back.

Though Stephen's own heat shield deflected and absorbed some of the power, the blast shocked Stephen and stopped his attack on Samantha. He risked a look down and saw Samantha lying still on the ground. He realized he needed to save those of his group that he could, and he ordered them away. He blasted away at Firestar, doing no more than keeping her back for a minute. His organization would not survive if he suffered another stint in jail. It was time to leave.

He shifted, becoming a fast moving being of light and heat. He dashed easily around Firestar and before anyone could stop him, slammed into the guardsman who had appeared behind her.

Stephen's power shortened out the circuits of Conrad's suit before the guardsmen could even put up a struggle. Shifting back into human form, Stephen hovered high above the ground, holding the unconscious guardsman. Firestar hovered a few feet away, watching and hoping that the damage to the suit hadn't included a disruption to the air systems. She couldn't raise Conrad over the gear.

"Still haven't figured out how to do it?" Stephen shouted to Firestar.

"Why don't you tell me?" she shouted back.

"Some other time, perhaps," he replied and then dropped Conrad.

Disregarding her rapidly fleeing uncle, Firestar flew after the plummeting guardsmen, pushing her speed to the limit as she struggled to reach him in time. For a second, it seemed as if something had shifted, but as she snagged Conrad and pulled up out of her dive, it shifted back. She landed and quickly melted the face plate of Conrad's helmet.

Conrad wasn't breathing. Firestar tilted his head back and began to apply mouth to mouth. After what seemed a long time, Conrad began to breath on his own.

"We have most of them, but some got away," Scott's worried voice came over the gear, startling her, "How's Conrad?"

"I don't know. He wasn't breathing at first. He is now, but he's out cold. My mother?"

"Hurt, but alive. Stay there. I'll bring medical."

Two weeks later, Angelica washed her dinner dishes. She couldn't stop herself from watching the door to her apartment. After two weeks of nothing but phone calls, she and Vance were both back and both free. After his debriefing, he would pick some things from his place and head here.

She rinsed the last dish and shut off the water. With school and work, today had been the first totally free day she had had in awhile, and she had been able to finish a painting as well as visit her mother. Still recovering from the burns caused by Stephen, Samantha was still in the hospital, unlike Conrad who had been released two days ago. This afternoon, Angel had dropped by and discovered her parents in the same room together, acting like young lovers. It was weird. What, she wondered as she put out food for Pumpkin, had happened to her mother's need for secrecy? She was happy for her father, for he had never looked so alive.

A sound of a key in the lock drew her attention. Before Vance could get the door, she opened it. He swept her up in his arms and kissed her soundly as he entered the apartment.

He leaned against the door and placed his bag on the floor, "Miss me?"

"As much as you missed me," she replied studying him and feeling suddenly shy for some strange reason. She reached up and brushed his brown hair back from his eyes. "Are you okay? You guys were on the news a couple of times."

"Just a little tired," he studied her intently as she studied him. "I heard that you and the others went up against a re-formed Forces of Nature."

She nodded, "They're at the Vault now." She pulled him further into the small apartment. "I'll get you something to eat."

Vance's blue eyes fell up on the expensive looking flowers on the table as Angel opened the door to the fridge. He telekinetically pulled the card over. Unsigned, the card read _Thanks for saving my life_, it read. He frowned as he quickly sent it back before Angel noticed. Conrad's flowers were bit much, Vance thought with some resentment.

"Vance?" Angel said, drawing him back as she tugged at his hand. 'Do you want some left over chicken soup or should I . . ."

"I'm not hungry," he interrupted, "At least not for food," he finished softly as he pulled her closer and closed the fridge's door with his power.

"Not food?" Angel teased, her blue eyes sparkling. "Then what are you hungry for?"

For a reply, he kissed her deeply, maneuvering them both so they covered the short distance to the bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed, holding her so she stood between his legs. "I know we agreed on an item of clothing for each correct answer, but I was wondering if you took credit."

Angel laughed, brushed his lips with hers, took a step back, and slowly began to unbutton her shirt.


End file.
